Windows 8 Bible

Creating and Managing User Accounts

The best way to handle user accounts is for one person to play the role of administrator, even if that person isn’t a professional. In a home environment, it would most likely be a parent who needs to define parental controls. It’s best to log in to a user account that already has administrative privileges to get started. If you have only one user account, or are taken straight to the desktop at startup, then that account probably has administrative privileges.

As with most configuration tasks, you create and manage user accounts through the Control Panel. There are several pages you can use, and several ways to get to them. As always, there is no right way or wrong way. No good way or bad way. You just use whatever is easiest and most convenient for you at the moment. Here are a couple of ways to navigate to options for managing the user account you’re logged in to at the moment:

• Display the Charms Bar, click Search, click Settings, type user in the search box, and click Change User Account Control Settings.
• Display the Charms Bar, click Search, click Settings, type user in the search box, and click Make Changes To Accounts.

A Control Panel applet appears that lets you make changes to the account into which you’re currently logged, as in the example shown in Figure 5.7. Options marked with shield icons require administrative privileges.

FIGURE 5.7 The User Accounts Control Panel applet

To create a new user account, click Manage Another ...